The present disclosure relates to automotive plastic panels used throughout the vehicle which include but are not limited to headlamp panels, windshields, fixed side windows and drop down door windows.
Traditionally, glazing has used glass material for automotive applications. Polycarbonate is a material that lends itself due to its characteristics for vehicle glazing. Polycarbonate is a clear-sighted material with extremely high impact strength, restoring properties after mechanical impact, high temperature resistance and high transparency. Polycarbonate is very suitable for glazing in automotive vehicles. However, the properties of polycarbonate glazings create challenges non-existent in glass glazings. For example, the polycarbonate glazings preferably must be protected against abrasion and preferably, processes must be developed to incorporate various functional elements within polycarbonate glazings. Furthermore, polycarbonate can expand and contract more than glass. Accordingly, polycarbonate can present issues that do not exist with existing glass glazing technology given polycarbonate's poor weatherability characteristics.
When polycarbonate has been implemented on a vehicle, the polycarbonate lens has been previously protected with a UV protective varnish. However, the UV protective varnish can degrade over time leaving the material to be prone to degradation due to the environment.
Accordingly, a need has developed to have a multi-layered plastic panel for use in automotive vehicles wherein the plastic panel has both high impact strength and can withstand various weather conditions without comprising strength.